Full Circle
by ani-cat-candy
Summary: The origins of the virus go much farther than even Gentek knows of and the original scientist and his first test subject, with help from friends, are going to find out how they got their hands on it. This isn't the first time it's happened, though, and they know how to deal with it. Either help the infected or destroy them. Will Mercer be able to convince them he deserves to live?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

a few notes before we start.

**1:** Yes, I'm putting my OC in this one as well. Don't like it, don't read it.

**2:** Some characters may be a bit OOC, mainly Kou and his background story. There wasn't really much info given on any of the characters in The Bouncer, so I'm playing with it.

My youngest nephew has Asperger's Syndrome, prompting much research on it and related disorders.. I just can't help but think of Kou as having similar issues.. It'll be explained in the story.

**3:** I have yet to finish Prototype.. I can't get past the psycho-bitch, but we're going to forgo the details and say it's a couple years after the end of the 1st game.. Completely disregard the 2nd

**4:** I placed this under Devil May Cry and Prototype because those are the main elements in the story. Other games, anime, fandoms will be mentioned and referenced (such as The Bouncer -I'm only using a character or two) and there will be some Assassin's Creed undertones.. may or may not give it a roll in the main plot-line.. We'll see.

**5:** I may or may not be completing or deleting my other DMC/Prototype/Avengers/Assassin's Creed story.. I was on bad meds when I wrote it and a couple others.. Long story-short:** I don't like it.**

**6:** Disregard DmC and this starts a few months after DMC4

**7:** I personally own a couple balls of yarn, crochet hooks and the Loki-plush I made and is sitting next to the computer, helping me write... The pattern was not mine.

That's all. Nothing else. I make no money from this (does anyone actually make money from fanfics?)

Also please excuse spelling and grammar issues, again, if you don't like it, don't read it.

* * *

**CH 1**

* * *

The boy let out a sigh as he waited for the ferry to dock, before picking up his bag and hopping on a buss.

The driver was hesitant to let him on with the large sword he carried across his back and the gun at his hip, but he took pity on the boy. He looked exhausted, as though he'd been traveling, buss to buss, for weeks.

It was an hour ride to the city and only a couple passengers on the buss, so he had the last few rows all to himself. His sword and bag rode in the seats in front of him while he stretched out across the back for, hopefully, a short nap... Not that he had any luck. His mind refused to shut up and stop reminding him of his reason for leaving the island he'd called home his whole life.

Another hour and a half of wandering about the city, in the rain, and he was about to give up and find a cheep motel when the neon sign finally came into view.. There was a car parked out front and a motorcycle, lovingly placed beneath the overhang of the roof to protect it from the rain. Hopefully that was a sign the old man was in. If not, he prayed for him to be stupid enough to have left the door unlocked.

* * *

Dante was _just_ crawling in bed when he heard the front door open.

Damn!

Lady had been on his ass all day and he just **really** wanted the day to be over with, already.

At least it wasn't Lady again, she would have been yelling at him already.. Not Kou unless he was just dead-beat tired and got off early, the footsteps were too heavy for Trish. Kou's sister walked like a ghost..

The guessing game ended as soon as he rounded the corner to stand at the top of the stairs.

Damn, the kid looked like shit! Disregarding the fact he was sopping wet from the rain, he had dark circles under his eyes and held himself like he hadn't slept in a week..

or was depressed..

Teenager = possibility.

"Hey kid, what's up? You miss me already?"

"He received an exasperated look, "Got anywhere I can crash for the night?" He even sounded worn out.. Defeated, almost.

"Yea, I'm sure the kitten wouldn't mind giving up her room for you.. Hell, she'd insist on it, I'm sure." The elder hunter gave him a warm smile and waved him up, showing him straight to the last room. It was messy, but there was a clear path to the bed and enough of it cleared off to sleep on..

If he were half his size.

"Though Dante was quick to move everything for him.

"There ya go, kid. And bathroom is downstairs, in the back." He gave a friendly pat to the boys shoulder as he passed by to leave the room. "Just make yourself at home."

"Thanks." Not too sure if the old man heard him, but he was too tired to care. Nero didn't even have time to appreciate how comfortable the bed was before he was sound asleep.

* * *

-A/N-  
Just noticed the formatting was off. All my breaks are gone and lines got jumbled together.. So they is being fixed.  
Sorry for any confusion or anything.


	2. Chapter 2

Bacon.. Mmmm..

Damn the bed for being so soft and warm.

Damn needing to pee.

Damn his stomach being such a winy bitch.

Even if he could ignore the feeling of his stomach trying to eat itself, the noise it was making would keep him from falling back asleep.

"Screw it, he's up.

After saying good morning to the bathroom, he stumbled into what he was guessing was the kitchen, still trying to wake up.. Yup. It's the kitchen, and there was a very sweet looking young lady cooking breakfast. 'Young', She looked his age, maybe a year younger.

Oh! He hopped it tasted even half as good as it smelled.

"Good mornin', cutie-pie. How do you like your eggs and what can I get ya to drink?" She asked in a cheerful, southern accent, the moment he walked in.

"Over-easy..? Orange juice, if you have any." She gave a smile at his sleepy answer as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

He must have dozed off a bit, next thing he knew there was a plate of eggs and a glass of o.j. in front of him, a plate piled high with bacon sat next to a stack of toast and a couple jars of jam in the middle of the table.

She finished a plate just in time for the old man to grab as he made his way by, yawning out a g'morning.

She cracked the last two eggs into the frying pan before pouring two cups of milk, placing them on the table as she gave the old man a quick kiss on the forehead and went back to her cooking. "You boys sleep alright?"

Both the hunters gave a sleepy 'yes' and a cheerful 'yesh' was heard coming into the kitchen to join them..

Damn, this guy had strongway/strong too much energy for so damn early in the morning.. Breakfast was awesome, though.

Shit. He forgot to put his jacket and glove back on.

"What?" He asked the new guy who was blatantly staring at his screwed up limb. Nice, now the chick was looking at it too, and the old man was laughing at him.

Dante was just smiling, amused by the scene. He knew exactly what was about to happen.

"That... is... **AWESOME**!" He nearly knocked the drinks off the table, bouncing up and around to get a better look while Nero tried his best to hide it. "Holy shit, man! Dante told us about how cool your arm was, but I never imagined.. Man that is fuckin' **epic**! I know some guys that'd give anything to get inked up like that.."

"Kou!" the chick interrupted, "Sit your ass down. You're scaring him."

He gave a sheepish grin with a small "sorry" as he did as he was told.

She also apologized, "I'm sorry, my brother's got ADHD"

"Amongst other things" Dante mumbled between bites.

She ignored him. "I'm Candy - or Candice, either one is fine- and this is my brother, Kou."

"Or psycho-nerd" Dante butted in again, making her roll her eyes at him with a small smile. "If you need anything, honey, just let me know. I'll be happy to help."

He gave her a shy-ish 'thanks' as she piled a bit of bacon onto her empty plate and began her breakfast. "Nero, right? It's really nice to meet you." He could only smile and nod in reply, having just taken a large bite of toast.

"Dante wouldn't stop talking about you for a good week."

"Ten days." Kou corrected her as the elder hunter vehemently denied the claims, making kou turn to him with an odd look.

"Yea, 'cus you got pissed that the chicks racked up your credit card again. The bill came in on the second and you'd come back on the 24th." He looked as though he were confused as to how anyone could have forgotten.

His sister just shook her head with a smile at the scene while Dante gave the guy a dead-pan look before heaving a dramatic sigh and throwing his hands up in defeat, making him look even more confused for a moment before shrugging it off and returning to his breakfast.

The room fell into a fairly comfortable silence while everyone ate.. It was a bit annoying, though how Kou kept tapping the table with the fingers of his free hand in an odd pattern. Like a nervous tick or something. No one else seemed to notice it, though. The way he acted made him seem like a five year-old in a grown up body. Tribal tattoos all over his torso, down his arms and up his neck, a couple on his forehead.

The boy glanced down at his inhuman arm.. A tattoo.. He'd never thought of it like that.

The girl next to him was quite a sight. Coppery red hair, pulled back into a braid that reached her lower back, hazel-green eyes, porcelain white skin with light freckles. Damn did she have a nice ass.. Her tank top did a nice job of directing attention to her..

"He's **so** checkin' you out." His head snapped up at her brother's laugh.

He was sure he was blushing like mad as they all laughed.

"It's alright. Don't blame ya, kid." Dante leaned over a bit to purposefully look down her top. She covered her cleavage with one hand and pushed him away in mock surprise, making Dante and Kou laugh a bit more.

She just gave him a smile, "Don't worry, sweetheart; I don't mind a cutie-pie, like you, lookin'." A wink from her made the boy look away, blushing even more before she playfully nudged/swatted at his shoulder

"Seriously, don't worry about it. I hang out with guys like these" she motions toward the old man and her brother "all the time. I'm used to the looks and suggestive jokes and games."

Great, first day and he's already made a complete ass of himself.

She was only saying such to keep him from getting too uncomfortable.. What is it.. Southern hospitality? Yea. That was likely it.

"yea" Kou piped in, "I think Trish and Lady are really the only girls you hang out with.. That's just because they tend to park it over here so often."

"Speaking of which, what you doing so far from home, kid? Girlfriend kick you out?" A mumbled 'yea' knocked the smile off the old man's face. He watched the kid poke at his eggs, that same defeated look on his face as when he'd came in the previous night.

Yea, not cool.

"Don't worry, kid, we can hook you up with a new one, no problem." ...And.. he just made things worse.

Didn't matter what they said, the kid was going to beat himself up over it, regardless.

Whatever.

Breakfast is over, it's nap time.


	3. Chapter 3

It's nap time.

Or not.

He groans as Lady struts in like she owns the place. "What now? You already took all my damn money."

She raises an eyebrow at him as she puts her sunglasses on top of her head and puts a hand on a popped out hip, clearly showing her attitude, then holds up a manila folder. "Got a job you might be interested in."

She lets Kou snatch it from her hand with a childish "Lem'me see" while bouncing past her, to the couch. She can only shake her head with a chuckle of amusement at the hyperactive man-child before giving the other woman a nod in greeting as she came out of the kitchen.

"Nero, right? I don't think we've had a chance to meet. I'm Lady." She holds out a hand toward the boy as he eases out of the kitchen, done helping the small girl with the dishes.

When he doesn't take it, she folds her arms under her boobs and turns back to Dante, dismissing the boy. "Government funded. They're supplying transport, ammo, hotel, everything."

"What's the catch?"

"All of Manhattan Island has been quarantined. The media is calling it an attack by a 'domestic terrorist'. They wouldn't give me much info over the phone, but it sounds like a demon is there, reproducing like crazy and taking over the whole island, killing any humans that won't obey."

"We'll take it." Everyone's attention turns to Kou who's already hacked into the project files.

"Great! There's a privet jet waiting for you." She turns and leaves with a happy "Have fun" before the elder hunter turns his attention to the tattooed nerd, digging up as much info as he can.

"You couldn't even wait for us to get a price? What the fuck, man?!"

"He never even looks up from his laptop as he hands his sister the file with some scribbled notes. Her look goes from curious to one so serious, it sends chills down the hunter's backs. "Doesn't matter. Get your shit packed."

Nero never thought he'd see Dante look so scared or be so damn quiet as he immediately follows orders, grabbing a to-go bag from the closet and looking over the weapons, deciding on which ones to bring.

"That bad?" He asks, rather quietly as Pandora is carried down the stairs by the small girl.

"You may want to sit this one out, kid."

* * *

There was no way of talking the boy out of going, but damn was it unnerving.

Sitting in a car with the old man that loves to hear himself talk, and the guy who was bouncing off the walls mere minutes ago.. It's like someone just flipped a switch.. An off switch for Kou. He was sitting still in the seat next to him, just staring out the window.

After the thirty minute car ride and another twenty minutes after the plane took off, he just couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Anyone mind filling me in on what's got everyone looking like they're heading to a funeral?"

"It's not demons. Government is fucking with some shit and.. Let's just say the fuse has only just been lit."


	4. Chapter 4

The day was full of firsts for the young hunter.

First time in an airplane, first time on a military base, first time in a helicopter, first time in a penthouse..

After landing on the military air base, they were quickly escorted to a helicopter and flown to the infected island.

There weren't any humans around, just zombies and creatures his new friends swore weren't demons. Sure as hell looked like them, though.. But his arm wasn't acting up any.

Dante ignored the info that they'd tried to provide, refused the rooms on the island's military base and lead the group straight to the most expensive hotel, where he stole a couple key-cards to the penthouse suite.

Not that the boy approved, but he couldn't much complain; it was **much **better than what the government had provided for them.. and he had his own mini-fridge, already stocked with sodas and chocolates 3

Too bad there wasn't any staff there to order up room service.

* * *

Another helicopter brought in more support for the military. These weren't soldiers, however.

They looked like rouge hunters from an action movie. White hair, 'cool' costumes, packed to the gills with ridiculously large weapons.. Two of them, at least. The other two just looked like average tourists.

Maybe they were the camera crew..

He couldn't help the smile that came at his own joke as he watched from the roof of a near-by building, assessing the threat. The one in the red coat looked like their 'star'. He waved off the soldiers and led his group away from the safety of the base.

Seems the spoiled shits preferred comfort over security.

The young boy, the sidekick maybe, looked like he'd never been in a penthouse before. Even from a few buildings away, he could practically feel the boys' wonder and astonishment as he could be seen through the windows, roaming about the top floor of the hotel, then onto the balcony to gawk over the city.

Maybe this could provide some entertainment.

He jumped across the rooftops and up the side of the hotel to the floor below them, curious as to what they were talking about.. likely either about the movie they were filming or some Hollywood gossip.

Oh! Who got dumped by who **this** week? (note the extreme sarcasm)

* * *

"So why wouldn't you let them give us info on anything?" Nero asked the elder hunter as he came back in from the balcony.

The old man had thrown his coat off and dropped all his shit as soon as they'd walked in and was now sprawled, lazily across the sofa, flipping through channels on the large, flat-screen tv.

"Because it's nothing but lies and bullshit." He turned the tv off with a sigh, there was nothing on. He yawned and stretched before relaxing a bit more, ready for a nap.

"Nero just rolled his eyes. What a lazy asshole.

"Sit down, sweetheart, and I'll tell you a story." Candy's eyes were not those of the cheerful young lady that'd made them breakfast that morning. They held a look of age, wisdom, sorrow, regret.. memories.

"She sat on the edge of the couch, next to the old man's legs and waited for the boy to take a seat in a near-by chair, before she began. "Kou and I were human once, a very long time ago."

"She could feel Mercer nearby. Close enough, she knew he could hear her story as well.

She hated repeating herself, and she was sick of this story. It's why she'd waited to tell it; so their target could hear, as well as to make sure no unwanted ears were listening.

"Technology was around the same level as it is now, but there was very little interest in warfare, more in healing and making life more comfortable. Humans shared this world, easily, with other people; angels, demons, you name it. We coexisted rather peacefully. Not to say there wasn't crime or anything like that, nations just didn't wage wars against each other; they negotiated and found other means.

"Fighting was a sport that kept most the more violent-natured from lashing out at inappropriate times. Gave them an outlet and was on par with the popularity of baseball or football, today." She gave a distant smile as a memory floated by. It was of her and her brother when they were children, sitting in front of the living room tv, cheering on their favorite fighters as they munched on their snacks.. Good times..

"Kou was one of the leading scientists in disease prevention and recovery.. One of his first major projects was trying to alter a demonic virus. It had a lot of potential. Though it had the effect of a mere cold to a demon, those of mixed heritage displayed some very interesting and promising effects.. The challenge was to remove the myriad of negative side effects and get it to infect humans.

"I was part of the first test group, and the only one to survive the trials. Looking through the data, my brother found that I had a few genetic qualities that none of the other participants had. It took a while to get together, but he found several people, each with one of those traits, himself included..

"It's such a rare anomaly, we've only ever managed to find a hand full of people with it. The project ended up being scrapped after a few years and Kou went on with other projects for about .. let's see.. it was 2043 when the project was scrapped and 3159 when the war broke out.." She began mumbling as she thought. Numbers just weren't her thing.

"1,116 years, 5 months and 13 days" Kou provided from his place in the next room, Candy simply motioned toward the open door to their shared room and gave a 'there ya go' look to the young hunter before continuing.

"Mundus had riled up most of the demon population into a revolt of the system, putting it in their minds that they were the superior race and humans should only be there to serve **them**.

"People could hardly defend themselves because for so long, they'd focused on everything **but** war and violence.. It was like the holocaust on a much larger scale. Humans were the Jews and demons were the Nazis.

"We were good friends with Sparda and stood by his side throughout the war."

"She gave a sigh as kou supplied the exact length of the war, "568 years, 2 months and 28 days."

Another nod in her brother's direction before going on, "That's how long the war lasted before Sparda managed to separate the human world from the demonic one.. When we weren't fighting, we were doing everything we could to move the survivors to safety.

"Only a couple thousand humans survived and everything had been completely destroyed. There were a few underground sanctuaries, but that was it.. All the technology, infrastructure, culture, everything; completely wiped out." she gave a short, humorless laugh, "People keep saying the war ended 2,000 years ago.. They fail to take into account the age of the text that supplied the information. The start of next year will be exactly 6,016 years."


	5. Chapter 5

"the start of next year will be exactly 6,016 years.

Mercer sat, dumbfounded, in the room just below them, listening intently to every word this woman spoke.

"We need to know where they obtained the virus from, it's far too dangerous to exist, let alone, let loose to do as it wants. Hopefully we can help this boy out, as well."

Her brother, he assumed, spoke up. "If the guy isn't reasonable or in some way is unable to control himself or the virus, though I hate to even consider it, we'll have to destroy him. There's no way around it."

After a few minutes, a debate started up over what they were going to do for dinner. Obviously that was all they were going to say on the matter, so he left to see what Dana and the doctor thought about all this.

"He honestly didn't know what to think. A demonic virus that hadn't been worked with in roughly 7,500 years?

How could it have possibly been developed to **help** people?

Damn, things just keep getting more and more screwed up by the minute.

* * *

"There won't be anyone there to cook or deliver, and I'm sure anything not in a can or box has done spoiled by now."

Dante heaved a heavy sigh and flopped back into his seat. She was right, the island had been quarantined for several years. There's no way any of the good food was still edible.

Hell, they were lucky the power was still on!

"I ain't eating those damn RMEs!" The old man cried, hands over his face as he kicked his legs in a childish tantrum.

Lady knew damn well, if they didn't demand a certian quality of anything at the time of the offer, they were just going to be thrown the bare minimum. Fucking bitch!

Candy gave him a wethered look before heading toward the balcony, "Stop your fussin'. I'll go see what I can find for you, ya big baby." Jumping down was so much faster than taking the elevator.. It also gave her a chance to see which way their target ran off to as he ran across the rooftops.

Follow him, she will.

She rolled her eyes at herself as the thought came through in the voice of Yoda.

Damn, hanging out with Kou so long, his nerd was rubbing off on her.

She kept to the streets, taking the form of a stray cat as she kept an eye on what building he'd jumped to.

From what Kou had managed to dig up, the boy seemed to only take human forms.. Guess he never got desperate enough to snack on a stray.. yet.

She remained on the opposite side of the street as she watched him enter the hospital. A reasonable hide-out.

Now to find that big baby some food to shut him up. The kid was fine with the MREs, her and Kou didn't need to eat human food, it was Dante that was pitching the fit.

"A grocery store supplied some manageable ingredients she could work with.

There must have been humans left, somewhere. All the ready-made products were gone from every place she could find or think to look within the area..

Maybe she'll drop by the military base in the morning and see what they could do about this little situation.

It would be so rude to not at least extend an offer to the boy (and any friends he may be with) to join them for dinner. But who knows if she'd be attacked going in there..

* * *

-**A/N**-

HA! I finally got around to watching all the cut-scenes on youtube.

"I had quite a bit more planned and several rough drafts started, but this gave me strongso/strong many more, better ideas!

"..I need to get caught up on Assassin's Creed..

* * *

_**:IMPORTANT:**_

In regard to the timeline of the story.

The government isn't as stupid as in the game, that's not how it would really work.

They wouldn't let all their key players be in the same place, where there's a threat to them. That is just flat out retarded.

No, government (of any kind) isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but they're not strongthat/strong stupid, either.

The three year span of time between the game (just after Greene is killed) and the story/alternate ending will be explained in the story, along with much more.

Get ready to Google some shit: Alex was a doctor, Ragland is a doctor, and Candy Kou have consumed many doctors. There will be medical jargon used at one point or another.


	6. Chapter 6

Who knows if she'd be attacked going in there..

She wasn't going to risk it. She left her basket of salvaged finds off to the side of the walk way, just outside the hospital door before going in.

She found two humans with him, an older man that looked to be a doctor and a young lady munching on a bag of chips. His sister, Dana, most likely. They seemed to be discussing the story he'd 'overheard' her tell.

* * *

"Perhaps it was the regenerative and adaptive qualities they were after?" Dana suggested around a mouth full of chips, to which Alex and Dr Ragland gave contemplative signs of agreement.

A small knock on the door frame made them all jump, the humans scampering out of the way as Alex got ready to fight. They relaxed a bit when they saw it was just a small girl with a warm smile.. Save for Alex.. He wasn't letting his guard down.

"Hey. I was out here trying to find my friends something to eat and thought I'd swing by to see if y'all might like to join us for dinner.. I'm Candy, by the way." she stepped into the doorway, hands to the sides so they could see she had no weapons on her.

Dana brightened up, the doctor looked a bit skeptical, but Alex remained tense and alert. "How'd you know where to find us?"

She clasped her hands in front of her and swayed a bit in an innocent, carefree manner and replied to his rough question in a sweet sing-song voice. "I fo~llowed you."

Dana laughed at her brother's confused look while the doctor tried to hide a chuckle; he wasn't ready to die.

How did he not notice being followed?

He turned an indigent glare toward the humans, quieting them..

Well, his sister was at least **trying** to stop giggling, though she couldn't help from voicing her question, "What's for dinner?"

Alex gave his sister a small growl of warning to not be so trusting, and he was effectively ignored. "Chili tacos."

A squeal of joy was quickly followed by the young lady pushing her out the door to lead the way, and dragging her brother by the arm. Dr Ragland followed willingly. It **had** been a while sense they'd had real food.

* * *

"What's taking her so lo-o-ong?"

"Stop wining, before I feed you my fucking boot, old man!"

"But I'm hungry.." Nero groaned, letting his head fall at Dante's childish whimpering. The big baby had started up only five minutes after she'd left and he was near ready to put a bullet through the man's skull.

The overgrown baby jumped up with a happy shout of "FOOD!" as soon as they heard the door unlock and Nero couldn't help but laugh at the old man when the door opened.

He quickly collapsed back to the floor, whimpering, "..not food.."

These were the people sent to kill Alex? Damn, they **must** be getting desperate.

Dana let the door close behind the doctor and set the loaned keycard on the closest table.. Her eyes brightened up as soon as she saw Kou round the corner to greet them with a bright smile.

"Hey! C'mon in and make yourselves comfortable. I'm Kou, Nero and Dante" He gestured to the other men in turn. Nero gave a nod, still recovering from laughing at the old man, who gave a lazy wave from his place on the floor, letting his arm fall back to the floor with a thud. That and his legs were all that could be seen of the man from where they stood, the couch blocking their view.

"Alex, Dana and..." "Dr Ragland" They shook the tattooed man's hand in turn before he ushered them in. "Nice to meet y'all. C'mon in, my sis shouldn't be too long with the food."

Alex shook his head at his sister, she could **not** take her eyes off the guy. You could practically see the stars in her eyes.

She didn't give Nero much of a glance; there were better things to look at. This guy was just flat out _**HOT**_!

His hair was still dripping a bit from the shower, water droplets running down an amazingly chiseled body that was accented perfectly by the tattoos.. She had to wonder just how far they went.. And if he truly was as sweet and kind as his big brown eyes looked..

She felt bad for the girl that had brought them here. Living with such perfection, but unable to touch because God just **had** to give them the same parents..

The poor thing.


	7. Chapter 7

Alex kept looking the place over from his spot against the wall, like something was just going to manifest out of thin air and try to eat them. When he wasn't doing that, he was giving Kou the absolute worst look.. He even went as far as to tell the guy to go put on a damn shirt so she'd stop drooling!

She was **not** drooling.. melting into a puddle of lusty goo, yes, but not drooling.

Guess it really doesn't matter if he has his memories and human emotions or not, a guy's gonna' be over-protective of his sister.

Food smelled _amazing_! **Real** food! How she managed to make it was a complete mystery to everyone, but she did it. Spicy Texas chili packed into hard taco shells, a bowl of tortilla chips with queso and spicy salsa.. Yea. Mexican restaurants in this part of the country couldn't hold a candle to this. ..Just _imagine_ what she could make if she had a good selection of produce to use!

How were these guys not fat?

How.. oh..

Yea she finally managed to tear her eyes away from the tattooed stud long enough to notice the other two really weren't that far off the sexy scale. Nero had the boyish charm of the high school hunk that every girl would kill to be with (OMG, she loved his tattoo! Did he just have his arm done or was there more?), while Dante had a more mature, rugged sexy going on.. Did he have a tattoo hiding somewhere as well? Oh, did she love a man with ink!

How could this girl stand it?

Friends with benefits?

Or maybe she wasn't into guys?

And why hadn't she made enough food for everyone? Was there just not enough?

Wait.. Where the hell did the meat come from?

"Why aren't you eating?" Her question popped out as curiosity got the better of her. Alex, she could understand, but the siblings weren't eating either..

Kou snagged a taste from his friend's plate, but that was it. "Don't worry," He smiled at the concern marring the woman's face," She wouldn't give y'all anything weird. Likely perishable ingredients were salvaged from the MREs they'd thrown at us. As for why **we** aren't eating," He motioned toward her brother in reply, "Same reason he ain't."

She was lost until Ragland spoke up. "You were infected by the virus as well?"

Candy gave a small nod while her brother's attention was caught, quite suddenly, by something in the living room.

Save for the noise they were making and a couple helicopters in the distance, all was quiet and it seemed neither his sister or the older of their friends noticed or even cared. Nero got curious when he saw his friend's attention had shifted, but he didn't say anything.. Alex even looked around in that direction and didn't seem to find anything out of place.

They carried on with the usual small talk; where everyone was from, what their jobs were, family, friends.. Interestingly, many of the countries and cultures had come back fairly the same, after the war- as far as names, languages and such, went.

Kou was having a hard time keeping his mind on the conversation, though, his mind and eyes going back to whatever he'd noticed before. It seemed to be getting him more and more antsy as the time and conversation went on. First a leg started to bounce, then fingers were tapping an odd rhythm..

After a good 20 minutes, or so, Dana couldn't take it any more, "Something wrong, Kou?"

That did it.

He got up with an angry huff and stalked over to the bookshelf to reorganize the books. Everyone watched in complete confusion, save for Dante who gave a small chuckle and shake of his head, and his sister who decided it was a good time to explain.

"High functioning autism. It's hard to tell, now, because of how long we've had to work on it, but there are still moments where it kicks up." She gave a half smile to the looks of understanding dawning on all their faces.

Ragland's interest was piqued at this bit of information. One could hardly tell, even knowing and watching for the signs.. not that it was his area of expertise.. "And how long have you been working with him on it?"

"7,748 years, 4 months and 2 days." Kou supplied from his place at the bookshelf, never missing a beat in their reorganization.

"Holy fuck! You guys are lookin' _damn_ good for being almost 78 hundred years old!"

"no shit.." She turned her attention to a surprised Nero. Whether he was more surprised at the actual numbers or the way Kou rattled them off so easy, he had no idea. "What? I've only known those two for a couple days."

Dana nodded in understanding while Dante and Candy waited for their friend to rattle off an exact time..

Well, he seems to have gone into his own little world.. Rare for that to happen unless he's playing with some mechanical or electronic something or another. The red-head excused herself and quietly made her way across the room to sit next to her brother on the floor and spoke softly to him until he came back.

* * *

**A/N:**

* * *

is my math off any?

-knew each other for 20 years, 3 months and 14 days when the first trials were run and Candy was infected

-project was scrapped exactly 27 years after the first trials

-the war began 1,116 years, 5 months and 13 days after the project was scrapped

-the war lasted 568 years, 2 months and 28 days

-it's been 6,015 years, 9 months and 11 days sense the war ended


End file.
